Now, General Motors is back at the front. Working with the US Army's Tank Automotive Research, Development, and Engineering Center (TARDEC), it has built what may be the baddest pickup yet. The Chevrolet Colorado ZH2 stands 6.5 feet tall and 7 feet wide, weighs three tons, and features flared wheel arches, a jacked-up ride, narrow slotted headlights, and a camouflage paint job.

What really marks this truck as different, though, is the drivetrain. Instead of the diesel and gasoline engines that power the street-legal Colorado, the ZH2 pulls its power from a hydrogen fuel cell, making it an electric, zero-emissions ride.

GM and TARDEC unveiled the truck today at the fall meeting of the Association of the United States Army, and the Army will lease the truck for a year of field testing, starting in 2017.

"I've got to figure out how to get on the bases, so I can have some of the fun," says Charlie Freese, who leads GM’s fuel cell program.

An electric truck offers plenty of upside on the battlefield. It runs more quietly than gas and diesel-powered vehicles, helpful for stealthy operations. It also runs cooler, which means it won’t show up on thermal cameras as clearly.

And, as Tesla has amply demonstrated, electric motors can deliver massive torque and acceleration. What's fun in a sedan can be crucial in a military truck off-roading on enemy terrain.

The ZH2 runs a 92-kW fuel cell, which combines hydrogen with oxygen to generate electricity, leaving nothing but water as a byproduct. Along with a battery that recaptures kinetic energy when braking, the drivetrain produces 174 horsepower, which feeds one motor, linked to all four wheels. GM's already thinking about giving each axle its own motor.

The key advantage of a hydrogen fuel cell over a battery-powered electric is the speed of refueling—you pump the tank full in a few minutes, instead of plugging it in and waiting a few hours. As a bonus, the ZH2's fuel cell produces about two gallons of water an hour, potentially useful in hostile deserts. You could even use the truck as a clean, quiet, generator to power auxiliary equipment.

That's if someone can solve the infrastructure problems that have blocked the adoption of fuel cell passenger cars: There's no infrastructure for refueling them.

Here, the army may have an advantage. It uses JP-8 jet fuel in many of its ground vehicles and generators. For the ZH2, it could either replace supply tankers of JP-8 with tankers of H2, or, to simplify supply chains, make hydrogen from the jet fuel it's already got.

“The advantage of hydrogen is that you can get it from almost any other form of energy, renewable, grid, or conventional liquid fuels," says Freese. “You could put a reformer up near forward stations, and strip the hydrogen off the JP-8.” If the Army wants to leave its jet fuel alone, it could make the stuff from natural gas (CH4). Soldiers could set up solar panels to provide the energy to split hydrogen from water.

The Colorado ZH2 may not end up on public roads, but Freese says fuel cells will make their way into customer hands—even if battery-powered electrics like Tesla's luxury cars and Chevy's own Bolt EV are getting all the attention at the moment.

After all, GM has invested billions in the technology, and racked up 3.1 millions miles as part of Project Driveway, which put a modified, hydrogen-powered Chevy Equinox in the hands of drivers for a few months at a time. "It’s not an and/or with batteries,” Freese says. "Each have situations where they’re well suited."

Meanwhile, Tesla CEO Elon Musk has announced plans to build an electric pickup, eventually. So one way or another, mean, green trucks are coming.

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